Tie-plate.



A, L. STANFURD.

' TIB PLTE. APPLIOATIGN FILED JAH. 28, NQS.

931,517, Patented mg. H1909.

ARTHUR L. STANFORD, 0F lCHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 7

TIE-PLATE specification .of Letters Patent.

Patented aug. .17, 1909,r

Application filed January 28, 1909. Serial No. 474,660. f v p To allwhom it may concern:

Be it known that l, ARTHUR L. STANFORD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of lllinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Tie-Plates, of which thefollowing` is a specification.

Tic plates are frequentlyy used in the laying of railroad rails, for thepurpose of protecting the wooden ties from the wear that in a greater'or less degree always accompanies the vibration and pounding of the"aile, due. to the passage of trains. lhis is especially true in caseswhere soft wood ties are enip oyed, which are being increasingly usedbyreason of the scarcity and expense of hard wood ties in many sections ofthe country. Tie plates, furthermore, are of valuc. in maintaining thelevel and grade of the track, in reinforcing the spikes against shearingaction, in maintaining the rail in its vertical position, and inreducing the cost of track labor and supervision, by reason of theincreased stability and longevity of the track as a whole.

The object of tlie present invention is to provide a tie plate, soconstructed that its pointed flanges, when driven into the wood of thetie7 will compress the wood displaced by the. (langes toward a centralpoint, thereby securing uniformity of compression with a resultantrigidity in the mounting for the tic plate,'and a close compactncss ofthe wood between the liaiiges. l

Another object ot' the. invention is to i'einforce the tie plate on itsupper side, intermediate the lower pointed l'langes, in such manne as toprovide the gre test amount of strength and rigidity consistent with theuse of a given amount of metal; and to provide grooves or channels whichwill facilitate the discharge of water, sand, or drippings from thecars. i

Another object is to so arrange the flanges and ribs that. the tie.plate can be easily rolled by ordinary rolling mill methods,

which is of vital iinportance in devices of' this kind, `which are usedin great numbers and must be capable of manufacture' at a minimum cost..

Another obiect. is to so construct the bearing surfaces for the railthat the latter will be. unsupportedin its center, immediatelyformation,

for relieving the spikes from a shearing action.

Further objects will appear from a detailed description of theinvention, which consists in the .features of construction -and Icombination of and claimed.

ln the drawings, Figure l is a perspective view ofthe end of a tieplate, of the style intended for use on hard wood ties, showing aportion of the tie in section and a. portion broken away; Fig. 2 asimilar View, showing the formation of the tie plate intended for use onsoft wood ties; Fig. 3 a side elevation of the tie plate of Fig. l; andFig. 4 a top or plan view of the tie-plate of either parts hereinafterdescribed sections and edge sect-ions G. Each of the sections. on itsunder surface 7, is given a curvature struck on the true are of acircle, so that, when the tie plate is in use, the wood beneath thearches will be compressed toward a common center. T he curving undervsurfaces T merge into depending longitudinally extending wedge-shapedilanges Sand 9, which are provided with flat. side faces 10; and, in theformation of the plate for use with hard. wood, ties, it is desirablethat the ilanges be relatively sharp and narrow in order to more easilyenter into the 'hard wood of the tie'. v

lach of the arch sections isvp'rovided, on the center of its topsurfacdwith iajlongitudinally extending lat facedriblll,'which ribs area rri nged iii staggered relation with respect to the under lianges, andserve to reinforce each of the arch sections in:` ts center and tosustain the weight of the rail. "The formation is one which provides aplurality of channels l2 intermediatethe ribs, which channels'areaiiordcd by thel juncture of theA curving upper faces 13 of the archsections.

1, the tie plate is in the toi-m ot one or more intermediate arch Themarginal walls let of the edge arch sections are of greater thicknessthan the intermediate walls, by reason of the fact that these portionsof the tie plate as a whole are connected and supported on their innersides only, and are therefore thickened to coinpensate for the lack ofsupport on the other side. The center rib 1l is providedat its outer endwith a shouldered lug 115, against which. the outer yedge of the railflange is adapted to abut, and this lugl is of sufficient length toafford the necessary reinforcement for reventing the rail from spreadingwhen subJectedto the weight of a heavy moving train. Obviously,additional ribs could be provided with such lugs, although a single lugaffords ample protection under ordinary conditions. Each of the ribs,near its center and immediately beneath the rail web, is cut away toprovide a recess 16 adapted to be bridged by the base of the rail, whichrecessserves to relievethe rail from support at its c'enter, and therebya-lferds the necessary resiliency to prevent objectionable pounding ofthe rail. rl`he plate, in the embodiment shown, is provided with twospiking` holes 17, which are cut through the chan.- nels 12 and thedependent intermediate flanges 8.

The tie plate shown in Fig. f2 dii'l'ers from that previously describedonly in details of its shape, the saine principles ybeing involved inits construction. The arch sections are curved on a smaller radius, andthe curve is struck from a point on a level with and intermediate theedges of the wedge shaped flanges. The description of the partspreviously given applies equally to the construction shown in Fig. 2, sothat it is not deemed necessary to describe said construction -indetail.

In use, the tie plate will be applied to the tie by driving or forcingthe wedged flanges into the surface of the wood to some extent, althoughit is customary to rely upon the weicrht of passing trains to force theplates to their eXtreme limit of depression within the wood of the tie.As the plate isl depressed, the wood, intermediate the wedged flangesand underlying' the curved under surface of the arch sect-ions, will becom pressed towarda common center, which results`in a highly desirableuniformity of con1pression,'and serves to impart to the Wood ahighilegreefof rigidity and coniactness, which tends to prei ent unduesinkmg of the tie plate into the surface of the Wood. The formation isone which strongly reinforces the plate, bot-h above and below, againstany buckling strain which is most Severely felt at a point 'closelyadjacent to andb outside of'the edges of the rail flanges, Which marksthe limit of the direct coinpressing action "of the rail when subjectedto the,weight of the train.

ln certain prior constructions there has been a tendency for the plateto bend or buckle at these points, by reason of the fact that theresistance of the wood underlying the ends of the tie plate tended tobend the plate along' the lines indicated. 'fiile forniation of thepresent tie plate is such that 'this difficulty is overcome, and theplate will bc uniformly depressedfrom end tol end without buckling ordistortion. The arch formation is oneI which affords the greatestaniounl` of rigidity in proportion to the weight of metal employed, andat the time alfords an upper surface contour which provides for theescape of water, sand or drippings, and an under surface contour whichadapts the device to engage the wood. of the tie in a most satisfactorymanner. Flntherinorc, the staggered relation of upper ribs and lowerflanges is one which is highly desirable in rolling the plates, in thatthe nictal displaced to form the arches will he forced intothe ribs,'and the metal displaced to form the channels will be forced into thelianges, thereby facilitating the rollingr operation to a very markeddegree.

Bv cutting the spiking holes through the changes, the spikes, whendriven, will be supported and reinforced for a considerable distancebelow the surface of the tie, so that the spikes will be supportedagainst displacement from their normal 'vertiial position under thepressure of the load carried by the rail.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters i'lal'ent is:

1. A tie plate, cei'nprising a plurality of arch sections mergingponeinto another, the under contour of cach of the sections having acurvature struck on the are of a circle, substantially as described.

Q, il tie plate comprisinga plurtlity of arch sections, theunder contourof each of the sections having' a continuous curvature, and each of thearch sections being provided. on its upper 'side with a longitudinallyes tending rib adapted to support a rail, substantially as described.

3. A tie plate comprising a plurality of arclrsections, the unnercontour of each of the sections havinga continuous curvature, and cachof thc arch sections being provide l on its upper side with alongitudinally extending rib adapted to support a rail, snide tic platebeing' provided on its under side. at the points of mcrgence of thesections with a plurality-of longitudinally extending` flanges adaptedto be embedded within the wood of the tie, substantially as def"scribed.

4. A tie plate, comprising' a plurality of arch sections merging intoanother, the under contour of cach of the sections having a curvaturestruck on the arc of a circle, the tie plate being provided, on itsunder side,

with a plurality of longitudinally extending flanges adapted to beembedded Withinthe wood of the tie, each ofy tlie arch sect-ions' beingprovided, Qn its upper side, with a 1 longitudinally extending rib.zdapted to suppert a rail, each of the ribs bein@ cut b away, at itscenter, to relieve the rml from ARTHUR L. STANFORD Witnesses:

PyERsoN lV. BANNING,

SAMUEL 7. BANNING.

